WMG Late: Utopia

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Free. No need to book. Every other month. Galleries and bar open all evening.

WMG Lates, our bimonthly after-hours events, are a chance to experience the Gallery in a relaxed adult atmosphere. Visit the special exhibitions and sample some of the best art, music, poetry and performance in London.

Stretch your imaginary muscles and spend the evening dreaming of utopian possiblities inspired by William Morris’s ecotopian novel, News From Nowhere. Luke Turner, writer and editor of The Quietus, shares his thoughts on the utopian possibilities of Epping Forest; Joe Dunthorne, poet and author of Submarine, performs; Henningham Family Press and artist Eddie Farrell invite you to join them in the process of making Gainful Unemployment, an improvised art composition and Mark Pilkington of Strange Attractor Press explores the theme in music and musicians. This event is co-curated by Vine Collective and is part of a London-wide festival to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the publication of Thomas Moore's groundbreaking novel Utopia.

The line up

Gainful Unemployment

You think that I have done you a service; so you feel yourself bound to give me something... but pardon me for saying, that it seems to us a troublesome and roundabout custom.

The Waterman, in William Morris's News From Nowhere

Artist Eddie Farrell has collaborated many times with Ping & David Henningham (Henningham Family Press) since meeting at the Slade in 2005. The most recent is The Maximum Wage when, with other live artists, they considered what citizens might do if supported by a dividend from commonwealth. Gainful Unemployment is an intuitive improvised composition of overlapping “collaborative selfies” cut from coloured paper. A profitable way of spending time. A method that may yield more humane utopias. You are invited to join in the process.

Henningham Family Press complete and represent their writing through fine art printmaking, bookbinding and performance. Collections that have acquired their work include the Victoria & Albert Museum, the Tate, and The Poetry Library. They have exhibited/performed at Christie’s, The British Library, BBC Radio Theatre, Dundee Contemporary Arts, The Whitechapel Gallery, and internationally. Follow Henningham Family Press and Eddie Farrell on Twitter.

Luke Turner

Luke Turner is co-founder and Editor of The Quietus. He is currently writing a book on the people's history, and goings-on in Epping Forest. Luke will be reading from his work-in-progress book on the people's history of Epping Forest, and exploring how William Morris' campaigning desire for the woodland utopia he remembered from his childhood provoked uproar in the Victorian press. Yet this idealised, natural forest is an impossibility in the confines of England and so close to London. Instead, Epping Forest has evolved into a place where Londoners create their own realities, whether macabre, sexual, or as a place of psychological respite. Follow Luke on Twitter or follow The Quietus on Twitter.

Joe Dunthorne

Joe Dunthorne was born and brought up in Swansea. His debut novel, Submarine, was translated into sixteen languages and adapted for film by Richard Ayoade. His second novel, Wild Abandon, won the Encore Award in 2012. A pamphlet of his poems was published by Faber and Faber.

Mark Pilkington of Strange Attractor Press

Mark Pilkington will play a selection of music with utopian ideals, or from people and groups who lived, or attempted to live, utopian dreams. Find out more about him at www.strangeattractor.co.uk or explore his two current projects, Teleplasmiste and Raagnagrok

About Vine Collective

Vine Collective create eclectic nights hosting writers, live music, film makers, DJs and poets. Co-curating the WMG Lates, Vine Collective invite artists to respond to the Morris collections and special exhibitions with new or existing work.